Dr. Mahmud bin Ahmad, known as Abu Handzalah (25 September 1978 – 7 June 2017), was a

Malaysian Malaysian may refer to: * Something from or related to Malaysia, a country in Southeast Asia * Malaysian Malay, a dialect of Malay language spoken mainly in Malaysia * Malaysian people, people who are identified with the country of Malaysia regard ...

professor of Islamic law and a senior Islamic militant with

Abu Sayyaf Abu Sayyaf (; ar, جماعة أبو سياف; ', ASG), officially known by the Islamic State as the Islamic State – East Asia Province, is a Jihadist militant and pirate group that follows the Wahhabi doctrine of Sunni Islam. It is base ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

History

He was born in Batu Caves,

Gombak District The Gombak District is an administrative district located in the state of Selangor, Malaysia. The district was created on February 1, 1974, the same day when Kuala Lumpur was declared a Federal Territory. Until 1997, Rawang was the district cap ...

Selangor Selangor (; ), also known by its Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 Malaysian states. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the east ...

. In the 1990s he travelled to

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

to study, where he obtained two bachelor's degrees from the

International Islamic University, Islamabad , motto_lang = Arabic , mottoeng = "All those endowed with knowledge have the All-Knowing above them" , established = , closed = , type = Public , affiliation = ...

. In the late 1990s he is said to have attended an Al-Qaeda training camp in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. He has a master's degree from the

International Islamic University Malaysia The International Islamic University Malaysia ( ms, Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia; Jawi: اونيۏرسيتي اسلام انتارابڠسا مليسيا; ar, الجامعة الإسلامية العالمية بماليزيا), als ...

and a Doctoral degree from the

University of Malaya The University of Malaya ( ms, Universiti Malaya, UM; abbreviated as UM or informally the Malayan University) is a public research university located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is the oldest and highest ranking Malaysian institution of highe ...

. While teaching at the University of Malaya, he was a senior lecturer in the Department of Aqidah and Islamic Thought in the Academy of Islamic Studies. According to fellow teachers at the University of Malaya, it was in late 2013 that he began expressing openly his views with respect to jihad. He wrote a journal titled "Faith of the Mujahidin" and founded a religious school called Open Tahfiz Centre. In March 2014, he arranged for at least four Malaysians to travel to Syria to join the

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...

. He has been on the Malaysian most wanted list since he travelled to the

in July 2014. According to the head of the Philippine Armed Forces, General

Eduardo Año Eduardo Manahan Año (; born October 26, 1961) is a Filipino public official and retired general of the Philippine Army who served as Secretary of the Interior and Local Government in the Cabinet of President Rodrigo Duterte from 2018 to 20 ...

, he was killed on 7 June 2017 along with 13 militants during the

Battle of Marawi The siege of Marawi ( fil, Pagkubkob sa Marawi), also known as the Marawi crisis (), and the Battle of Marawi (), was a five-month-long armed conflict in Marawi, Philippines, that started on May 23, 2017, between Philippine government security ...

in the Philippines. It was alleged Mahmud funnelled over 30 million pesos from the Islamic State to gain firearms, food and other supplies to finance the militants' siege on Marawi. However, Malaysian police chief

Khalid Abu Bakar Khalid bin Abu Bakar (born 5 September 1957) is a retired Malaysian police officer who served as the 10th Inspector-General of Police of Malaysia (IGP), succeeding Ismail Omar. He retired as IGP on 4 September 2017 and was succeeded by Moham ...

said he believed Mahmud is still alive.

References

{{authority control 1978 births 2017 deaths Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant members Academic staff of the University of Malaya University of Malaya alumni International Islamic University Malaysia alumni International Islamic University, Islamabad alumni Malaysian rebels Malaysian imams Terrorism in Malaysia Terrorism in the Philippines People from Selangor Malaysian Islamists